Improvement in low-water and high-steam indicator



linittd tant' @sind tllilra LEVI FSMITH., OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

Letters Patent No. 107,114, [lated September 6, ISTO.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters PatentY and making part of the same To all whom 'it may concern:

Be' it known that I, Lav: F. SMiTH, of' Philadelphia, in the county ot Philadelphia and in' the State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Low-water and High-steamlndicator;` and do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawing andto the letters of reference marked thereon making a part of this specification.

The nature of. my invention consists in 'the construction and arrangement of a low-water andhighsteam indicator, as will be hereinafter fully set forh.

1n order to enable .others skilled in the art to which my invention appe'rtains tol make and Vuse the. same, I will now proceed Vto descn'be its construction and operation, referring to the annexed drawing, in which Figure 1 is a longitudinal vertical section, and

Figure 2, a side view ot' my machine.

A represents a straight pipe, of any suitable dimensions, screwed into the boiler, and provided with aside pip'e, B, opening on the side of the pipe A directly below'the .point where it is screwed into the boiler,

At the lower end of the pipe A, within the boiler, is screwed another pipe, C,` which should extend to from one and a half to two and a halt inches above the tubes, lines, or tire-line At the' upper end of the pipe A is attached a brass` tube, D, which is closed at its upper end, and has a level', E, .pivoted on\it, as shown'in tig. r,1.

One end otthis lever is-provided' with a weight, G, while the other is attached to the valve-stem a. of the whistle H, which latter is, by a pipe, ./I, connected with the upper end of the side pipe B, which forms the steam-connection.

At a suitable point on the leverE is, attached a head, b, forming the connection with the adjustable rod J which passes through a bar, K, connectingr the pipes A and B. l

lhe rod J is provided with right and left-hand screws at'its ends', the upper end heilig screwed into the connecting head b,.while on the lower end is screwed a-n'ut, d; placel between two lugs or shoulders, e e, on the underside of the connecting-bar K.

By this means the rod J is readily shortened or lengthened at-will, and a jam-nut. f,^serewed against the under side ot'v the head l), holds it in place when adjusted. l

Around thevalve-stem a', between the box on top of the whistle and the ander side ot' the lever E, is a spiral spring, .g3 which may be used.v to Y assist the` weight G, or alone/to hold the whistleivalve up in its place. A

When the water is above vthe end of' the tube C inthe boiler, the pressure of steam on the water forces the same up into the brass tube D. 'I here being no circulation, the. water cools 'down to about the same temperature ofthe surroundingatmosphere, the air being previously exhausted by means of loosening a set-screw, h, at the top ol' the tube; but when the water, froxn'any cause, falls below the end' o'' the tube C, the tube D is at once emptied of' water. Steam, which is from 200 to 300o hotter-,takes its place, the tube D expands, the short end of lever E with weight G moves upward,-which causes the long endQof the lever to press down the whistle-valve, and the alarm is at once given.

Below the valve of the steam-whistle H is a stopcock, 11 for thev purpose of shut-ting oli` the steam from the whistle. This stop-'cockis usedwhen the alarm for low-water is given to stop the whistle, because it will of courserequire some time before the water is brought' up in the boiler, the tube D llled and contracted again to close the whistle-valve. As soon as the whistle-valve is closed again by the contraction of' the tube D, the cock L should be opened again, so that the whistle may be sounded when required. Ihe handle of the stop-cock Lis in the shape ot' a lever, which may be locked when the cock is opened, as shown in ig. 1, so as to prevent anybody from tampering with it.

In the pipe I below the whistle is placed a Siphon, M, or rather the pipe I leads into a Siphon, which is then connected with the whistle. The object ot' this siphon is that, as the steam passes up to the whistlevalve, and condenses, it will collect in the bottom of the Siphon, and, by the vacuum created above the same, the water condensed from the steam will be drawn up to and against/the whistle-valve, and prevent the same from sticking, which is frequently the case when the steam stands against the valve.

In-.the bottom of the sphon M is a set-screw, t, which can be taken out at will to draw oil the water, to prevent freezing in cold weather.

From the backA of the upper e d of thesiphon M a pipe, N, leads to a safety-valve, connected with the whistle, for the purpose of indicating or sounding the alarm t'or high steam. l This valve may be constructed and operates substantially in the same manner as described in my patent for low-water and high-steam indicator, dated November 24, 1868, and hence needs no further description here. This valve O, heilig connected with the siphon M at its upper end, is prevented from sticking in the sainermanner as above dedescribed for the whistle-valve. All valves, when steam is allowed to stand against them for any length of' tilnefwill get a more or less thick crust formed on them, which frequently acts as a cement to stick the valve tight to its seat. This ditioulty is entirely overcome by the use of the siphon, because the water con-v densed from the steam is drawn up against the valve, anl prevents the steam from comings,r in contact with the yvalve except for a very short time.

Having thus fully described my invention,

What- YI claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The arrangement of the pipe A with side pipe B,- pipe C, and expanding tube D, the pipes A G D being-in a straight line, substantially as shown and described.

2. lncombination with a steam-valve of any de- 

